The Terrors of Loneliness

The Terrors of Loneliness - Chapter 16

Lucas watched the monitor disinterestedly; he hated surveillance. He rubbed his face with his hands and stretched, feeling his joints cracking. It had to be bad for you being cooped up in a van all day. He pulled his jacket tighter round himself...it wasn't very warm either. The door slid open and Dimitri climbed in with two coffees and passed one to Lucas.  

"Thanks...what took you so long? Did they make you grind the beans again?" He smirked at his colleague. 

Dimitri shook his head, "You're not funny Lucas...there was a queue and I had to take a leak." He looked at the monitor, "Anything?" 

"No...nothing. How did we manage to draw the short straw?" 

Dimitri shrugged. Lucas felt his phone vibrating in his jacket and pulled it out and smiled, "It's Harry...maybe he wants a coffee too. Harry..." he was cut off before he had the chance to be flippant. 

"Lucas...it's Jack Curtis...he's gone missing. Have you heard from Hannah?" 

"What d'you mean missing? He was sectioned for fucks sake."  

"Have you heard from her?" Harry's voice was insistent and a feeling of dread swept over Lucas. 

"No...not since I left my flat this morning...do we have reason to believe she's in danger? Harry?" 

"Just get back here as quickly as you can Lucas." The line went dead. 

"Shit!"  

Without speaking to Dimitri he was up and out of the van and running round the corner to his car. He pulled out, narrowly missing a taxi and a group of pedestrians and sped off in the direction of Hannah's house...Harry could go to hell. Pulling his phone out of his jacket he pressed the speed dial for Hannah's mobile and clamped it between his ear and his shoulder as he negotiated a roundabout. "Come on....come on...answer the phone." It just rang and rang then her voice mail kicked in. "It's me...call me back as soon as you get this. It's important." He threw the phone onto the passenger seat and resisted the urge to punch the steering wheel. 

-- 

Fifteen minutes later Harry called Dimitri. "Did he say anything before he left you?" 

"No nothing. He just ran." 

"He should've been here by now. My guess is he's gone to find her." Harry didn't try to disguise the disappointment in his voice. "We've already sent a team to the house. I'm sending someone to relieve you...I need you here." 

"Understood." 

Harry put the phone down, got up from his desk and opened the door to his office, "Ruth, do you have an update for me on Jack Curtis?" 

She looked up from her desk. "Yes. The CCTV shows him waiting at the security doors until someone came in. He slipped out before they closed again. He went outside and hailed a taxi, we're trying to trace it now." 

He shook his head, "What's the bloody point of sectioning someone if they can just walk out?" 

"They don't have enough staff to watch everyone that closely..."  

Harry held up his hand to stop her, "Ruth I don't care about the current state of the NHS...what have they said about his state of mind?"  

"Not a lot...the doctor was due to see him this afternoon. The nurses who were on last night said he was restless and agitated. Lots of shouting about how he was used and then spat out by MI5 apparently." Ruth gave a small sigh. 

"Anything about his daughter?" 

"Afraid not." Ruth shook her head. 

"Damn!" Harry turned back into his office. "Keep me posted Ruth, and keeping trying Lucas's phone." 

-- 

Lucas was vaguely aware of jumping red lights and breaking all the speed limits as he frantically fought against the heavy London traffic, his mind in a whirl. His phone kept ringing but it was never Hannah, so he ignored it. Screeching to a halt outside her house, and narrowly missing the other cars parked on the road, he leapt out and ran up the pathway to the front door.  

Banging hard on the door he shouted, "Hannah! Open the door!" The silence that followed was deafening and he swallowed back the fear that was threatening to engulf him. The curtains were drawn in the front room so he couldn't see inside. He banged on the glass, shouting again. Having lost the ability to think rationally in the face of an onslaught of terrifying possibilities running through his mind, he barely heard the sirens and started trying to force the door open. The Police and the team from Thames House turned up just as the lock broke and Lucas fell into the hallway. 

Gathering his thoughts and pushing his fears to the back of his mind, Lucas managed to maintain a relatively professional façade as they searched the house from top to bottom. Of course it was empty but Lucas knew Hannah had arrived home because her overnight bag was in the hall. Her handbag was there too complete with mobile phone and purse. He was sure she would never have gone out without them. The only other unusual thing they found was an unlocked backdoor with the key still in the outside.  

Lucas was certain that Jack Curtis had let himself into the house and taken Hannah somewhere...but where? Typically, none of the neighbours had seen anything out of the ordinary and Jack hadn't been allowed his mobile phone at the hospital so tracking that was pointless. They knew he hadn't gone back to his own home and so far no-one had any idea where they could've gone. Lucas knew people were trawling through CCTV footage back on the Grid and now with little else to occupy his mind he started to feel his emotions take over once more. He'd been fighting it ever since he'd fallen through the front door but had managed to use all his experience to remain calm and professional...detached even. But now the fear of losing her was terrifying him.  

His phone rang and taking a deep breath he gave into the inevitable and answered it. "Harry...any news?" 

"Yes. We've traced the taxi that picked Jack Curtis up outside the hospital. It dropped him off at Hannah's house about an hour ago." Lucas closed his eyes. Having what he already knew confirmed just added to the increasing sense of loss. "And Lucas..." Harry continued, "Don't think I've forgotten that you disobeyed a direct order but...right now, we have more pressing concerns. I'd order you back to the Grid if I thought for one moment you'd actually do as I asked. Do what you have to do...we'll speak later." 

"Thanks." Lucas just about managed to get the word out without his voice betraying his fear. Ending the call he sat down on the sofa and putting his head in his hands, he tried not to remember sitting there holding Hannah in his arms a couple of days earlier. He'd only just found her; he needed her in his life. He realised that he'd probably fallen head over heels in love with her the first time he went to see her in hospital. She'd looked so impossibly beautiful and although he'd tried to ignore it, his heart had lurched and he'd fallen under the spell of her pale green eyes.

His thoughts were interrupted by one of his colleagues, "Lucas...they've found them...Bunhill Fields Cemetery in Finsbury."

Lucas looked up. "Are you sure? Is she ok?"

"Yes...they've been seen on CCTV. Miss Curtis appears to be fine."

Bunhill Fields...why there? Lucas wracked his brains and then his eyes fell on the book on the coffee table and he understood. Jumping up he ran out to his car.